Theme Focus/Art Skill:

Preparation/Materials:

Procedures

Activating Prior Knowledge

Ask the children if they have ever seen someone interviewed (e.g., a celebrity or an athlete). Explain that an interview is when people are asked questions about themselves or a topic they know something about. Mention that people who are looking for work will experience job interviews. Ask children to think of things they would like to tell other people about themselves to let them know that they are special

Objective:

Developing oral language and concepts.

Communicating Through Drama

Ask children if they have ever seen a puppet show. Encourage them to discuss the puppets they have seen and where they saw them. Explain that puppets are artificial figures (or dolls) representing people or animals that can be manipulated by hand in order to entertain, teach, or inform. Tell children that they are going to be interviewed and that they will be using puppets to represent themselves.

Objective:

Using puppets to express thoughts/feelings.

Building vocabulary: puppet, puppeteer, interview.

Demonstrate how to use a puppet during an interview by assuming the roles of the interviewer and the person being interviewed. Invite a child to join you at the table where he or she chooses a puppet. You will interview the puppet. The child will be the "puppeteer."

Objective:

Developing dialogue to convey character.

Consider the following format:

Introduce yourself and ask the puppet for its name. The child should answer with his or her own name.

Objective:

Identifying self as a unique individual.

Tell the puppet that you are interested in knowing all about him or her. Begin the interview, possible questions to ask might include the child's: age, birth date, likes and dislikes, favorite things and names of family members.

Provide each child with the opportunity to work with the puppets and participate in the interview. After each performance have the audience applaud.

Wrap-Up Activity

Wrap-up the activity by asking the children to tell you what they learned about each other.

Learning Log

Have children draw a picture of the puppet they used while being interviewed. If appropriate, encourage children to use invented or standard spelling to write a word or words that describe one of the questions asked during the interview.

Objective:

Communicating through drawing/writing.

Assessment

When asked, children identify personal information about themselves.

Objective:

Using authentic strategies.

Extensions

Have children interview one another.

Have children make sock puppets to use for interviewing or for dramatizing a story.

Use a video recorder so children can view themselves in this activity.

Learn Along At Home

Dear Family:

Today, during our Creative Drama Activity, we became puppeteers. We selected puppets to represent ourselves. We then pretended that we were being interviewed and our teacher asked our puppet questions, which we answered. The vocabulary we used included puppet, puppeteers, and interview.

Learn Along at Home with Your Child:

Here are some questions that you may wish to ask your child about today's activity:

What were some of the questions that you were asked during your interview?

What new things did you learn about other children in your class?

Consider trying the following activities to further extend your child's learning: